Islamabad April 25 2024: Considered to be one of the first cases in the history of Pakistan, the Rawalpindi Drug Court has awarded imprisonment and heavy fines to the CEO and other employees of a pharmaceutical company in a case involving a medicine that was found to be ‘substandard’.
The company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which is considered one of the most credible and well-reputed companies in Pakistan and across the globe, has denied any wrongdoing in the matter and announced its intention to challenge the judgement before the appellate forum.
According to the judgement seen by Dawn, the complaint was filed by the Provincial Inspector of Drugs Tehsil Hasan Abdal. He stated that in 2018, another drug inspector, Uzma Khalid, took a sample of tablet Septran, batch number HSBDS, manufactured by GSK and sent to Drug Testing Laboratory Rawalpindi, which had declared the drug substandard.
The representatives of the company were charge-sheeted by the court in February 2023. However, all the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and faced a trial.
The judgement said that GSK, with an estimated net worth of $82.38 billion, has production and quality control units. However, it did not bother to recall or stop marketing the drug, nor did it conduct any inquiry regarding the manufacturing of the substandard drug.
The court found the company’s CEO, production manager, quality control manager and warrantor guilty.
The CEO was awarded imprisonment until the rising of the court and an overall fine of Rs4.7 million. She may face three months in prison if she fails to pay the fine.
The three others have each been awarded two years in prison and a fine of Rs600,000. They will face an additional six months’ imprisonment each in case of failure to pay the fines.
However, GSK Secretary Agha Salman Taimur has announced the company’s intention to challenge the judgement before the appellate forum.
In a letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, seen by Dawn, he wrote: “GSK as well as the officers impleaded in the proceedings hereby deny any sort of wrongdoing in the matter and are taking immediate steps to challenge the aforementioned judgment before the appellate forum.
